With COVID-19 cases spiking throughout the country, employers must remain vigilant to their workers’ health. If an employee shows symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19, an employer should do the following: Send Employee Home Employees who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms or who test positive at work should be separated from others and sent home. Be as considerate [...]
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is an important federal leave law. If your business does not fall under the FMLA, your pregnant employees may still have rights under other federal, state, and local laws. Some of these laws include, but are not limited to: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) The ADA applies to [...]
A potential employer in California can generally ask a former employer any question about a prospective employee. However, you may be hard-pressed to find a former employer who will answer any questions beyond confirming job title, dates of employed, documented departure reason, and whether they would rehire. The reason is simple. Fear of litigation. Former [...]
Employer considerations when providing equipment and resources What an employer provides their remote worker will be very job-specific. However, here in California, Section 2802 of the California Labor Code requires employers to reimburse their employees for the reasonable and "necessary" expenses they incur in direct consequence of discharging their job duties. So, as an [...]
The US Supreme Court reached a landmark LGBTQ decision on June 15, 2020. The Court held that “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII" of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case is Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 590 U.S. ___ (2020). The Supreme Court looked [...]
The question of whether the “ABC test,” codified under Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), covers joint employment has yet to be answered. AB5 doesn’t offer definitive clarification on joint employment. Nor has any California state court confirmed whether the “ABC test” can be used to determine joint employer liability. Joint employment liability has been a central [...]
Can I require COVID-19 antibody testing before employees return to work? Currently, the answer is no. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued an update on June 17, 2020 clarifying this issue. The EEOC pointed to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) interim guidelines, which state that antibody test results “should not [...]
On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued an update on its website. The update expands EEOC’s COVID-19 technical assistance questions, providing guidance to employers on the following questions: Can employees with high-risk family members request an accommodation? The EEOC states clearly that employers are not required to provide accommodations to employees [...]
Advice for small businesses to be sure they hire "well" For a business to hire “well,” they must put in the time to plan for it. Small businesses especially cannot afford to hire someone that is a poor fit. Part of the hiring plan should include critically evaluating what the business needs from a potential [...]
Due to COVID-19, many employers have or may need to lay off numerous workers. These layoffs are likely to spark litigation so employers must be mindful of the following potential liabilities: Liability for Failure to Follow the WARN Act Federal The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN Act requires that employers with 100 [...]
